Packaging mechanism

ABSTRACT

A collapsed open bottom basket style article carrier is withdrawn from a hopper by feeder means and then manipulated into partially set-up condition by the feeder means operating in conjunction with transport means which subsequently moves the partially set-up carrier into cooperative relationship with a pair of spaced guides which substantially complete the setting up operation except for the bottom wall which is open and which is disposed immediately above a continuously moving group of articles. Thereafter movable positioning means grips the handle of the carrier and positively urges the carrier downwardly into enveloping relationship with respect to the group of articles while imparting movement to the carrier in the same direction and at the same velocity as the article group is moving. Thereafter the bottom panels which are foldably joined to the bottom edges of the carton side walls are folded underneath the articles and secured together to complete the package.

United States Patent [191 Calvert et al.

[ PACKAGING MECHANISM [75] Inventors: Rodney K. Calvert, Dunwoody; Dale K. Scott, Jonesboro; Charles Rabun Landrum, Smyrna, all of Ga.

[73] Assignee: The Mead Corporation, Dayton,

Ohio

[22] Filed: Nov. 8, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 196,560

[52] US. Cl. 53/48, 53/186 [5 l] Int. Cl B6Sb 43/28, B65b 21/00 [58 Field of Search 53/26, 29, 32, 35,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,276,129 3/1942 Wesselman 53/29 X Primary Examiner-Robert L. Spruill Attorney-Walter M. Rodgers [111 3,747,294 July24, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT A collapsed open bottom basket style article carrier is withdrawn from a hopper by feeder meansand then manipulated into partially set-up condition by the feeder means operating in conjunction with transport means which subsequently moves'the partially set-up carrier into cooperative relationship with a pair of spaced guides which substantially complete the setting up operation except for the bottom wall which is open and which is disposed immediately above a continuously moving group of articles. Thereafter movable positioning means grips the handle of the carrier and positively urges the carrier downwardly into enveloping relationship with respect to the group of articles while imparting movement to the carrier in the samedirection and at the same velocity as the article group is moving. Thereafter the bottom panels which are foldably joined to the bottom edges of the carton side walls are folded underneath the articles and secured together to complete the package.

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SHEET 5 UF 5 E ii * mvsmox RODNEY CALVERT 3 DALE scan BY cuARLes nun LANDRU ATT R Y PACKAGING MECHANISM Known apparatus is adapted for loading an open bottom basket style carrier through its bottom panel by establishing relative vertical movement between a group of articles to be packaged and the open bottom carrier. Such known mechanisms are not adapted for highspeed operation and in fact in many instances are capabel of intermittent operation only.

According to the present invention loading of an initially collapsed open bottom basket style carrier is effected at high speed by feeder means which engages one surface of the collapsed carrier and withdraws it from a hopper and moves the collapsed carrier into cooperative relationship with transport means which engages the opposite side of the carrier. Thereafter relative movement between the feeder means and the transport means effects a partial setting up of the carrier following which the carrier is fed between a pair of spaced guides by the transport means which in turn substantially completes the setting up operation of the carrier except for its open bottom. Positioning means provided with a pair of gripper elements engages the handle of the carrier while the carrier is disposed immediately above a continuously moving group of articles and moves the carrier downwardly into enveloping relationship with the group of articles and simultaneously imparts movement to the carrier which is in substantially the same direction and at substantially the same velocity as the direction and velocity of movement of the group of articles. The positioning'means then releases the carrier handle and suitable means effects closure of the bottom of the carrier to complete the package.

While the mechanism and method of this invention are not limited to any specific details of carrier construction, the mechanism and method of this invention are particularly well adapted for use in conjunction with a carrier constructed according to United States Patent Application Ser. No. 196,1 l filed Nov. 5, 1971.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompnaying drawings in which FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a mechanism constructed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an upside down view of a collapsed carrier with an open bottom which is manipulated by the machine and method of this invention to envelop a group of articles from above;

FIG. 3 is a view of a carrier such as the collapsed carrier in FIG. 2 after the carrier is set up but before its bottom is closed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the machine shown in FIG. I as viewed from the outfeed end thereof and as seen from the same side as FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5-9 represent respective stages through which the collapsed carrier as shown in FIG. 2 is manipulated into position immediately above a group of continuously moving articles which are to be loaded into the carrier;

FIG. is an end view as taken from the right hand end of FIGS. 1 and 4 Le, of the infeed end of the machine;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line designated l1ll in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line designated l2l2 in FIG. 10, and

FIG. 13 is a top view of the positioning means as taken along the line designated l3--l3 in FIG. 1.

The carrier as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 comprises a handle 1, a pair of side walls 2 and 3, end wall panels 4 and 5 at one end of the carrier and bottom panles 6 and 7. Bottom panel 6 is a wide panel which is foldably joined along a fold line 8 to the bottom edge of side wall 2 and is provided with a plurality of retaining tabs 9. Bottom panel 7 is foldably joined along fold line 10 to the bottom edge of side wall 3 and is provided with a plurality of locking tabs 11 which as is obvious from FIG. 2 may be driven through the corresponding openings defined by retaining tabs 9 to complete the bottom wall of the carrier. Opposite from end wall panels 4 and 5 are a pair of end wall panels only one of which designated by the numeral 12 is observable in FIG. 2. Partition straps 13, 14 and 15 interconnect the handle structure 1 and side wall 3 and divide one side of the carrier into a plurality of article receiving cells. In like fashion similar partition elements interconnect the handle structure 1 and the side wall 2 to define a plurality of article receiving cells on the opposite side of the carrier.

As is apparent particularly in FIGS. 1 and 4 a plurality of carrier blanks C are stacked in the hopper generally designated by the numeral 16. The carriers as shown in FIG. 2 are mounted in the hopper with the handle structure 1 nearest the observer. A continuous series of articles to be packaged such as bottles B are introduced into the infeed or righthand end of the machine as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 4 and proceed toward the left on a suitable conveyor not shown in detail as indicated by the arrows 17. While the bottles are moving continuously their flow is metered by metering means generally designated by the numeral 18 and are also separated into groups. Thereafter each group of articles is accelerated to the desired speed by accelerating mechanism generally designated by the numeral 19. Each group of articles is then fed into the region of the transport means generally designated by the numeral 20 and the feeder means generally designated by the numeral 21. Feeder means 21 withdraws a blank from hopper 16 and in cooperation with transport means 20 effects a partial setting up of the carrier following which the carrier is interposed by transport means 20 between a pair of fixed guide elements generally designated by the numeral 22. These guide elements 22 are spaced apart and fixed in position adjacent the paths of movement of the transport means and of the group of articles, the spacing between guide elements 22 being such that a setting up operation is completed due to engagement of the guide elements with the end walls of the carrier. The guides may be bevelled at their entry ends to facilitate entry of the carrier therebetween. Thereafter positioning means generally designated by the numeral 23 grasps the handle 1 of the carrier and positively forces the carrier downwardly and into enveloping relation with respect to a group of articles disposed immediately therebelow. The articles and carrier with bottom panels open as shown in FIG. 3 proceed to the bottom closing station generally designated by the numeral 24 at which station the bottom is closed. The package is then complete at the outfeed or lefthand end of the machine as viewed in FIGS. 1 and-4, the complete package being generally designated at P.

As the continuously moving articles in the form of bottles B are fed in from the righthand end of the machine they are metered by the metering structure 18 which may constitute a pair of oppositely disposed star wheels of conventional construction. These star wheels are rotated by an articulated shaft 25 driven by any suitable means such as by the gear box 26 which in turn is driven by any suitable known means. The metering devices comprising the star wheels at metering station 18 control the rate of inflow of articles into the machine and cooperate to divide the incoming articles into two rows.

The articles are fed to the left as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 4 on continuous conveyor from a metering means 18 and come under the influence of accelerating means 19 which means may constitute an endless chain 27 mounted on a pair of sprockets 28 and 29 and driven by articulated shaft means 30 at a speed which is constantly variable in accordance with the requirements of the particular packaging operation. Shaft 30 is driven from gear box 31 which in turn is driven by any suitable known means. Accelerating station 19 divides the incoming articles into groups such a two rows of two, two rows of three or two rows of four and the like and supplies each group of items in a left hand direction at the correct velocity. Of course each group of articles which is fed from the accelerating device 19 proceeds into the region of the feeder means 21 and of the transport means 20.

Feeder means 21 as is best seen in FIGS. 1, l and 12 comprises two sets of suction cups 32 and 33 which operate in sequence to withdraw alternate cartons as shown in FIG. 2 from the bottom of hopper 16. Suction cups 32 are mounted on feeder arm 34 while suction cups 33 are mounted on feeder arm 35. Since both feeder amrs and their associated operating mechanism are identical only one such system is here described. For example and as is best shown in FIG. 12, feeder arm 34 is pivotally connected at 36 to rocker arm 37 which in turn is pivotally mounted on shaft 38. Rocker arm 37 is provided with an integral extension 39 on the end of which a cam follower 40 is mounted. Arm 37 and extension 39 are rigidly interconnected with each other. Cam follower 40 mounted on extension 39 and disposed within cam track 41 effects a generally left to right to and fro oscillatory movement of rocker arm 39 due to rotation of cam 42 and cam track 41 about shaft 43. This action imparts a generally up and down movement to pivot 36 and to feeder arm 34.

In order to impart rotary motion to arm 34 about its pivot 36, an arm 44 is pivotally connected at 45 to feeder arm 34 and is pivotally connected at 46 to rocker arm 47 which in turn is pivotally mounted on the fixed shaft 38. Rocker arm 47 is provided with a cam follower 48 shown in dotted lines in FIG. 12 which rides in cam track 49 formed in the near side surface of rotatable cam 42. Thus rotation of cam 42 by virtue of cam follower 48 imparts oscillatory rotation to arm 47 about shaft 38 and in turn imparts sidewise recirpocatory movement to the arm 44 which in turn tends to oscillate feeder arm 34 about pivot 36. Thus rotation of cam 42 about its shaft 43 effects a composite motion of rocker arm 34 which motion when combined with suitable vacuum pressure applied by knonw means to vacuum cups 32 effectively engages the side wall of the lowermost carton C" in hopper l6 and withdraws such carton from the hopper. Following withdrawal of the carton from the hopper as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 rocker arm 34 moves to the position depcited in FIGS. 1 and 7 where the carton is momentarily held until suction cups on transport means 20 such as are generally designated by the numeral 50 engage and grip the opposite side 3 of the carton following which engagement and under application of vacuum pressure to the suction cups 50 and due to relative movement between transport cups 50 and feeder cups 32 the carton walls 2 and 3 are drawn apart womewhat and the carton is in a partially set up condition.

The transport mechanism 20 of which cups 50 are a part is best seen in FIG. 11. In FIG. 1 1, a generally rectangular base board 51 is shown and is suitably and fixedly mounted to the frame of the machine in any known manner. Bearing structure generally designated by the numeral 52 is mounted on support base 51 and is disposed about an aperture 53 formed in base 1. A plurality of arms only one of which is shown in FIG. 11 and designated by the numeral 54 are affixed by bolts 55 to ring gear 56 mounted on bearing 52 and driven by a pinion generally designated by the numeral 57 in FIG. 11 thereby to impart rotary motion in a counter clockwise direction to the arms 54. Preferably some six arms such as 54 are utilized. Pivotally mounted at pivot 58 on arm 54 is a cam rod 59 on one end of which a cam follower 60 is mounted. Cam follower 60 rides in cam track 61 formed in fixed relation on and supported by base plate 51. Suction cups such as 50 are rigidly mounted to the end of rod 59 which is opposite to cam track 61. Cam track 61 is generally circular and equidistant from the center of rotation of the bearing structure 52 but is provided with a portion of irregular configuration and generally designated by the numeral 62. Thus when cam follower 60 arrives into the irregular portion 62 of cam track 61, the desired manipulative action is effected whereby a carton side wall 3 is engaged generally from above by generally downwardly facing suction cups 50 to draw the walls 2 and 3 of the carton apart while sidewall 2 of the carton is being held by cups 32 or 33 as the case may be since the to and fro movement of cups 32 or 33 is characterized by very little vertical movement at the instant of hand-off.

Immediately following the cooperative engagement of the suction cups 50, vacuum is released from the suction cups 32. The carton is then under the control of cups 50 which as is apparent in FIG. 7 are rotating in a counter-clockwise direction so as to elevate the carton above the path of movement of cups 32 or 33. As depicted in FIG. 7, arm 35 and cups 33 are moving toward engagement with side wall 2 of the bottommost carton in hopper 16 following which arm 35 and cups 33 reverse their direction of movement as suggested by arrow 35A so as to move into the general region of a set of suction cups 50. In FIG. 7 arm 34 is shown at an instant before the hand off" of carton C" to suction cups 50. Of course the direction of movement of arm 34 and of cups 32 reverses after hand off" as indicated by the curved arrow 34A. This dual feeding action speeds up the overall action of the machine and is possible because arms 34 and 35 operate in synchronism and in sequence without any collision of parts because these arms and associated parts are side by side as shown in FIG. 10. The reciprocation of arms 34 and 35 is described above in connection with FIG. 12. This movement drives the carton C" between the guides 22 and thus substantially completes the setting up of the carrier into the condition depcited in FIGS. 3 and 8.

In order to grasp a carrier C while it is disposed between the guide elements 22 and to force the carrier downwardly and into enveloping relation with respect to a group of articles moving from right to left as viewed in FIG. 1, positioning means generally designated by the numeral 23 is employed. As is best shown in FIGS. 1, 9 and 13, positioning means 23 comprises a pair of gripper elements 63 and 64 which are arranged to receive the handle 1 of the carrier C therebetween. These gripper elements 63 and 64 are spring biased toward handle gripping relation and are cam operated by the fixed cam structure generally and schematically designated by the numeral 65 to swing element 63 into temporary non-gripping relationship as the arm 66 engages the cam track 65 when the positioning means 23 is near sprockets 72 and 75. Immediately thereafter the elements 63 and 64 receive the carton handle therebetween and are then biased into gripping relation by the spring biasing means. Movement to a position near sprockets 73 and 76 results in engagement of arm 66 with a part of cam 65 which in FIG. 1 is disposed behind cups 33 and associated structure and which in FIG. 13 is disposed underneath sprocket 72 and associated structure. This movement of course releases the handle 1 of the carton and such release is in timed sequence as is required to complete the packaging operation.

The gripping elements 63 and 64 are mounted on a support structure 67 which is provided with a pivot pin 68 which in turn cooperates with an endless element such as a chain 69 and a pivot pin 70 which forms a part of an endless element such as a chain 71. Endless element 69 is rotatable about sprockets 72, 73, and 74. Endless chain 71 is rotatably mounted on sprockets 75, 76 and 77. These sprockets are mounted in any suitable manner and are supported by support plates 78 and 79 and rotation of the endless elements 69 and 71 is effected by any suitable means not shown in detail in the drawings for the sake of clarity. Rotation of the sprockets such as 72-77 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 imparts motion to gripper elements 63 and 64 which is downwardly and toward the left as viewed in FIG. 1. Of course the horizontal component of movement in a direction toward the left must be substantially euqal in direction and velocity to the direction and velocity of movement of a group of articles to be enveloped by a particular carrier C. Of course enveloping movement of a carrier such as C is positively effected by the positioning device 23 and for this reason the cells of the carrier may be somewhat undersized and may be thus forced to conform generally with the configuration of the exterior surface of the packaged articles "8." Y

Following release of the handle 1 of the carrier by the gripper elements 63 and 64 of positioning means 23 due to engagement of arm 66 with cam structure not shown but which is disposed near sprockets 73 and 76, the carrier and its associated articles B continue movement toward the left and underneath movable hold down element 80 which is provided with a groove 81 therein for receiving the upper edge of the handle 1. Hold down element 80 serves to complete the enveloping movement of the carrier and holds the carrier down into its proper position relative to the articles 8" which are supported on a conveyor as travel is cffected from right to left. For long carriens two eccentrically mounted hold down elements may be used. The package with its bottom open then comes into bottom closing station 24 where suitable power folders generally designated by the numeral 82 engage and plow first the bottom panel 6 upwardly followed by plowing bottom panel 7 upwardly in known manner. Preferably the articles are supported at this point on a conventional sword-like support permitting the bottom panels to be folded underneath the articles and sword. Once the bottom panels are plowed into their overlapping positions, the locking tabs 11 are driven into their associated respective apertures defined by retaining tabs 9 by a suitable rotary locking mechanism generally designated by the numeral 83 and which may be similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,413 issued Mar. 4, 1969. The sword may be provided with apertures to facilitate the locking action of the locking device. The package is then complete and appears as indicated at P in FIG. 4.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. Mechanism for manipulating a collapsed open bottom basket style article carrier into enveloping relation with a group of continuously moving articles to be packaged in the carrier, said mechanism comprising feeder means engageable with one side of the carrier while in collapsed condition, transport means engageable with the other side of the carrier while the carrier is held in collapsed condition by said feeder means, said feeder means and said transport means being relatively movable in such manner as to move the opposite sides of the carrier apart and into at least partially set up condition, guide means for receiving the carrier from said transport means and effective to hold the carrier walls apart, means for moving the group of articles continuously along a path near said guide means, and positioning means for engaging and moving the carrier out of engagement with said guide means and into enveloping relation relative to the group of articles.

2. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said feeder means is movable in a direction generally parallel to the path of movement of the cntinuously moving group of articles and wherein said transport means is movable in a direction generally transverse to the path of movement of the articles.

3. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the carrier is supplied from a hopper and wherein said feeder means is characterized by oscillatory movement toward and away from the hopper and wherein said transport means is characterized by movement in one direction about a generally circular path whose locus is near the path of movement of said feeder means.

4. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the circular path of movement of said transport means is disposed about the path of movement of the group of articles.

5. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said guide means comprises a pair of spaced apart guide elements fixed in position adjacent the paths of movement of said transport means and of the group of articles.

6. Mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said guide elements are configured and arranged so as substantially to complete the carrier setting-up operation initiated by said feeder means and by said transport means and to maintain the carrier in substantially setup condition.

7. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises carton engaging means movable in a direction away from said guide means and toward the path of movement of the group of articles and wherein such movement is a resultant of a component of movement in the same direction and velocity as the direction and velocity of movement of the group of articles.

8. Mechanism according to claim 7 wherein hold down means engages the carrier subsequent to engagement by said positioning means and operable to hold the carrier in a desired vertical relationship to the articles.

9. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises a pair of gripper elements arranged to grip a part of the carrier and to mvoe the carrier into enveloping relation relative to the group of articles and then to release such part of the carrier.

10. Mechanism according to claim 9 wherein said gripper elements are mounted on support structure which in turn is pivotally mounted to a pair of continuously movable endless elements.

11. Mechanism according to claim 10 wherein said gripper elements are biased toward gripping relation and cam operated out of gripping relation with each other.

12. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said carrier includes a tray section and a handle section and wherein said positioning means engages the handle section of the carrier. 

1. Mechanism for manipulating a collapsed open bottom basket style article carrier into enveloping relation with a group of continuously moving articles to be packaged in the carrier, said mechanism comprising feeder means engageable with one side of the carrier while in collapsed condition, transport means engageable with the other side of the carrier while the carrier is held in collapsed condition by said feeder means, said feeder means and said transport means being relatively movable in such manner as to move the opposite sides of the carrier apart and into at least partially set up condition, guide means for receiving the carrier from said transport means and effective to hold the carrier walls apart, means for moving the group of articles continuously along a path near said guide means, and positioning means for engaging and moving the carrier out of engagement with said guide means and into enveloping relation relative to the group of articles.
 2. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said feeder means is movable in a direction generally parallel to the path of movement of the cntinuously moving group of articles and wherein said transport means is movable in a direction generally transverse to the path of movement of the articles.
 3. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the carrier is supplied from a hopper and wherein said feeder means is characterized by oscillatory movement toward and away from the hopper and wherein said transport means is characterized by movement in one direction about a generally circular path whose locus is near the path of movement of said feeder means.
 4. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the circular path of movement of said transport means is disposed about the path of movement of the group of articles.
 5. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said guide means comprises a pair of spaced apart guide elements fixed in position adjacent the paths of movement of said transport means and of the group of articles.
 6. Mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said guide elements are configured and arranged so as substantially to complete the carrier setting-up operation initiated by said feeder means and by said transport means and to maintain the carrier in substantially set-up condition.
 7. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises carton engaging means movable in a direction away from said guide means and toward the path of movement of the group of articles and wherein such movement is a resultant of a component of movement in the same direction and velocity as the direction and velocity of movement of the group of articles.
 8. Mechanism according to claim 7 wherein hold down means engages the carrier subsequent to engagement by said positioning means and operable to hold the carrier in a desired vertical relationship to the articles.
 9. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises a pair of gripper elements arranged to grip a part of the carrier and to mvoe the carrier into enveloping relation relative to the group of articles and then to release such part of the carrier.
 10. Mechanism according to claim 9 wherein said gripper elements are mounted on support structure which in turn is pivotally mounted to a pair of continuously movable endless elements.
 11. Mechanism according to claim 10 wherein said gripper elements are biased toward gripping relation and cam operated out of gripping relation with each other.
 12. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said carrier includes a tray section and a handle section and wherein said positioning means engages the handle section of the carrier. 